Garment



0. S. DORR May 17, 1932.

GARMENT Filed March 2, 1931 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented May 17, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE a OSCAR S. DORE, OF FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO GOODBAR MANUFACTUR- ING CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., .A CORPORATION OFINEW YORK GARMENT Application filed March 2, 1931. Serial No. 519,288.

This invention relates to improvements in garments and more particularly to garments having shoulder straps, an object of the invention being to prevent such shoulder straps from falling from the shoulders of the wearer during use, and further, the application of such means to garments of various kinds as commonly constructed and without change in the appearance of the garment or in the general form or construction.

With these and other ends in view, the invention consists in the applying of a stiffening member to each shoulder strap of a garment by enclosing the same therein in a manner to hold the strap in an upright position relative to the upper portion of the garment and prevent the strap from swinging laterally and crinkling which would cause it to slip from the shoulder of the wearer. The invention further consists in detachably attaching such stiffening member to a shoulder strap so that said member may be quickly and easily removed when the garment is to be washed, and in providing certain other new and useful features, all as hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the application of the invention in use;

F ig. 2 is a perspective view of a garment having shoulder straps to which the invention is applied; and Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section through an end portion of a shoulder strap.

As shown, 1 indicates the upper portion of an undergamnent which is provided with shoulder straps 2 of any desired design or configuration to pass over the shoulders of the wearer and support the garment. The ends of each strap 2 are permanently sewed in the usual manner to the front and back of the garment, upon the inner surface thereof adjacent the upper edge portion 3 of such I garment, and each strap at its rear end or end at the back of the garment, is formed tubular or hollow to provide a pocket L into which is slipped endwise through a pocket mouth or opening 5 at the under side of the strap, a stiffener strip 6 of any suitable flexible resilient material suchas a thin strip of steel,whalebone, or the like. The pocket 4: extends belowthe upper edge 3 of the garment 1 as at 7 and' the sides and end of this portion of the pocket are very securely sewed or otherwise secured tothe inner side of the garment so that the lower end of the stiflener 6 will extend into this portion of the pocket and bethus held against swinging edgewise without crumpling the garment body. Therefore when the garment is in place upon the wearer with the upper edge portion3 secured about the wearers body beneath her arms, the'straps will beheld substantiallyat right angles to the upper edge of the garment body by the stiffenerswhich extend downward into the portions 7 of the pockets which are firmly secured to the garment, the upper end portions of these stiffeners extending upward in, the straps to nearly the top of the wearers shoulders, and as these stiifeners are held substantially at right angles to the garment edge by their extension into the secured lower ends of the pockets, the straps are held thereby against swinging laterally and slipping from the shoulders of the wearer. The stifl'eners are preferably very thin and flexible so that they will bend readily in the direction of their thickness and thus conform readily to. the back and shoulders of the wearer, yet have rigidity in the direction of their width to hold the straps in an upright position relative to the upper portion of the garment, without being noticeable. By providing pockets in thestraps to receive the stifl'eners these stiffeners may be quickly and easily removed when it is desired to wash the garment, by simply slipping them endwise through the open mouths of thepockets. I

The size or form of the shoulder straps or the construction of the garment, are immaterial, as the pockets in the straps may be made to fit the stifi'eners regardless of the width, shape or length of the straps, and such other changes as fall within the terms of the appended claims are contemplated.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is 1 1. A garment having a shoulder strap formed with a longitudinal pocket having a mouth and with said pocket extending in a substantially vertical direction downwardly of the body of the garment to a point well below the upper edge portion of said body and secured thereto at substantially right angles to said edge, and a thin flexible stiffening strip in said pocket removable endwise through said mouth and extending to the lower end thereof and held in an upright position by its engagement within said lower end portion of said pocket which is secured to said garment vertically downward from the upper edge of said garment, and extend ing upwardly in said pocket to adjacent the V mid-pointof said strap.

2.--A garment having, shoulder straps each formed of two thicknessesof material to form a pocket with one end portion of each strap extended vertically downward and, firmly secured to the inner face of said .gar-

ment bodyv atsubstantially right angles to the upper edge thereof and each strap formed at its inner, side intermediate 1ts ends 7 with a pocket mouth; and a stifiening strip rinsertable endwise in eachpocket through said mouth with; its lower end extending to the lowerend of said pocket well below the upper edge of said garment, to hold said strap in a position substantially at right angles to the upper edge of said garment.

In testimony whereof I affix my s1gnature.

OSCAR s. DORR. 

